Snapshots of My Life

2011-08-17T08:28:00.000-04:00

More flowers from my garden. My garden was amazing this year until I was gone for 2 weeks on vacation-- the deer came and mowed everything down.

2011-08-15T07:40:00.000-04:00

My Stargazer Lillies were amazing this year. And they smelled sooooo amazing!

2011-08-12T06:57:00.000-04:00

Found 2 swallowtail catapillars eating my dill. They were fat, colorful things! Apparently, when they feel threatened, they raise their stink horns (the orange things) and release a God aweful smell.

2011-08-11T07:21:00.000-04:00

Rocky Mountain High.... Colorado. Went home to visit this summer. While I was there I went up one afternoon to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was hot, but rainy. Still, beautiful though!

2011-08-10T06:46:00.000-04:00

Finally, the last of the Everglades. We were watching a storm rise up on the horizon--made for some stunning skies! I can't wait to go back to the Everglades!

This is a giant grasshopper that they call a Lubber.

2011-08-09T06:38:00.000-04:00

I'm back in town and hopefully done traveling for a while. Here are a few more from the Everglades.

Osprey

2011-07-22T07:15:00.000-04:00

We found this little lake/pond in the everglades that was full of birds! There were way too many to count. Egrets, spoonbills, storks, Ibis.... It was amazing. And very loud!

2011-07-21T06:54:00.000-04:00

I'm back in town for a few days. Here are some more of the amazing Everglades.

They have all of these amazing trails that you can walk all throughout the park. However, you need to bathe in insect repelent because the Mosquitoes are thick, large and very hungry!

The Air Plants cover the trees there. Beautiful!

We found this large snail roaming around. He was very cool looking, and fast for a snail.

A large Soft Shelled Turtle.

Snowy Egret

2011-07-11T07:28:00.000-04:00

Baby gators! They were kind of cute in that "once I grow up I can eat you" kind of way. I enjoyed taking their photos until I heard them calling for mom, then I was a little distracted looking for her.

2011-07-10T07:39:00.000-04:00

This was a big guy! He wasn't scared of us at all.

Purple Gallinule-- one very colorful bird..... who never ever seemed to stand still enough for me to photograph properly.

One of my favorite birds -- the great Blue Heron

Their wingspan is over 6 feet!

2011-07-09T06:55:00.001-04:00

The everglades are gorgeous and a bird lovers dream!

Great Egret

White Ibis

Gator!

Green Heron

2011-07-08T06:58:00.000-04:00

In all the times I've traveled to Florida, I had never been to the everglades. We decided that this time we would go. We booked an airboat tour. Right now the Florida everglades are in a severe drought - 21 inches behind in rainfall for the year-- so a lot of it is dried up. Then they had a huge fire the day before we arrived, so we were limited in where we could go. Still, was one of the best experiences I've had. I fell in love with the everglades and can't wait to go back!

This is a young Alligator-- probably 2 or 3 years old.

These lilies open up at the same time each day and close up at the same time each day. You can set your clock by them.

Great Egret

2011-07-06T06:54:00.000-04:00

We drove down to Biscayne Cay to snorkel in Biscayne National Underwater Park. If you ever get a chance to snorkel this area-- I highly recommend it! It was amazingly colorful, full of fish, and one of the healthiest reefs I've ever seen! The water clarity was fantastic as well.

Striped grunts and sea bass

There were fish everywhere!

The clorful fish is a Queen Angelfish

The fan coral was all over!

cleaner wrass

Some sort of damsel fish

Grey Angelfish

And to answer Maria's question-- Deerfield Beach in in Boca Raton on the Atlantic side

2011-07-05T07:48:00.000-04:00

Sunrise at Deerfield Beach, Florida

The dolphins were playing just off shore.

2011-07-04T09:47:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th everyone! My son loves to go in and feed the Lorikeets. It seems that the feeling is always mutual because they land on hime everytime even before he has food.

2011-07-03T08:51:00.000-04:00

Giraffe's-- I love their super long eyelashes and gentle faces!

This is my handsome husband feeding them. Their tongues are very long!

2011-07-02T08:34:00.000-04:00

I really like zebra's. There's just something about the stripes! So Are zebra's white horses with black stripes or are they black with white stripes? The answer is below:

Apparently, no two zebras stripes are alike, so they use black and white photos of the neck area to identify them.

They looked at zebra's in the womb and discovered that zebras start off black and then the white stripes slowly appear as they grow in the womb.

2011-07-01T07:46:00.000-04:00

Eland-- They are big and all muscle. In fact they kind of look like the body builders of the antelope world.

African cattle-- this young guy isn't even full grown yet.

This Limpkin is actually native to Florida. It was hunted almost to extinction. It's call sounds like a woman screaming and I guess they are particularly loud at night and early morning-- could be why they were hunted so badly? I mentioned that to our guide and he said "Nah, it was because they taste like chicken." ;)

A few more of the Rhino's. Our guide said they have to watch one of the rhino's because he likes to rub his horn on cars-- and he usually has expensive taste.

2011-06-30T08:10:00.000-04:00

The Waterbuck were very curious about us. I think they would have climbed into the van if we had let them. Really-- I think they were looking for food. Beautiful animal though!

This male had been fighting. I think he lost......

She kept trying to stick her nose in the van. I love how their nose is a heart shape!

We mostley felt Waterbuck love except for this guy. He kept giving us the Waterbuck version of "stink eye."

2011-06-29T08:20:00.000-04:00

Kulah are extreemly endangered and notoriously ill tempered. Our guide said you could try and domesticate them only if you enjoyed beeing kicked and bitten ALL THE TIME! They are not fond of humans.

Indian Blackbuck are so named because the breeding male's coat turns black. This male has been "fixed" so his coat has stayed tan.

Impala-- one of my favorite animals!

These asian Water Buffalo have the right idea-- it was 98 degrees that day!

2011-06-28T07:38:00.000-04:00

Lions! It was soo fun to see them closer up! Makes me want to go do a photo safari in Africa!

Look at his beautiful eyes!

2011-06-27T08:23:00.000-04:00

On our VIP Tour we got to drive through the lion enclosure. Very fun way to see them up close without a fence between you (there was a car door between us)

This lioness was stalking some black vultures that were in the enclosure. She was very focused. Our guide said that they sometimes caught them-- but the didn't kill them. Instead, they pulled out their feathers-- kind of like how a cat will maim a mouse so it can run, but not very far. He says they will come into the enclosure in the morning to see a bird looking at them like-- can you please help me ?

2011-06-24T06:47:00.000-04:00

It was fun to be able to drive through the park with our doors open and hear all the behind the scenes info from the Wildlife Director. He had the best stories about the animals.

This is a Rhea-- a South American Bird that looks like an Ostrich but is smaller.

One of the local Wood Storks has moved in where he can feel safe and get free food.

This is a Marabou Stork. This poor guy was moved to this area due to what our Guide said was "spousal abuse." Apparently hes getting a little old and his spouse had been picking on him.

Gemsbok-- one of the most striking members of the antelope family. Just a beautiful animal!

2011-06-23T07:32:00.000-04:00

Lion Country Safaris in Florida. We had never been and decided that we would check it out. It's basically a drive through safari experience. We however, signed up for the VIP Tour. The Wildlife Director of the park took us on a personal behind the scenes tour. Our first stop-- to see, and touch the new (2 week old) baby white rhino. What an amazing experience. I was very impressed with how clam the mom and baby were.

She is just the cutest little thing.

Mom came over for a sniff and scratch. Her skin was as rough as it looks. Our guide was saying that their outer skin is 3 inches thick in spots.

Isn't she a beauty?

This is my son getting to touch the baby! The photo quality isn't great because I was just too excited. I was like a little kid!

Mama's checking up on her baby. It looks like she's kissing her but really she's just smelling and making little huffing sounds. I was impressed with how gentle they were. By far gentler than some horses I've been around. They love to be scratched behind their ears. It is soo sad that they are slaughtered for their horns. Our guide was saying that poaching of these beautiful animals reached one the highest points ever last year.

BTW-- a large portion of the animals in this park are rescued from people buying them for pets or to raise on a farm-- they tend to forget how big these animals get & that they are wild animals.

2011-06-22T19:13:00.000-04:00

Passiflora-- what a beautiful and alien looking flower. They had quite a few varieties at the butterfly garden. I love how colorful they are!

2011-06-21T08:38:00.000-04:00

They also had a bird aviary as part of the butterfly complex. Very cool!

Hummingbird

Honeycreeper

2011-06-20T11:39:00.000-04:00

Back from a wonderful trip to Florida! We spent half a day at the Butterfly house in Boca Raton! Very cool!

Madiera Butterfly

Common Rose

Blue Morpho

Hecale

My son-- a butterfly landed on his hand. It's fine if they land on you but you cannot touch their wings-- it damages them.

2011-06-09T07:35:00.000-04:00

How does my garden grow?

My coneflowers started early this year-- all this hot weather we've been having I guess.

My Calla lilies are looking nice this year. They've enjoyed the rain we had this spring-- but are not enjoying the hot weather we are having now.

Nothing says summer like the smell of honeysuckle!

2011-06-07T06:50:00.000-04:00

Hogsmead-- the little shops were fun to go through. I really enjoyed the candy shop. Very creative! If you go-- get the frozen butter beer ( kind of like frozen root beer but better). Very tastey on a hot day!

2011-06-06T06:43:00.000-04:00

Universal did a great job with the Harry Potter area! Hogwarts castle is amazing!

2011-06-03T07:57:00.000-04:00

The new Harry Potter area at Universal studios is really neat! Keagan went into Olivanders where a wand was chosen for him. I thought he might be too old for this, but he really loved it!

2011-06-02T06:50:00.000-04:00

Walking through Old San Juan. I love the colors of the houses and the iron work. Some of it reminds me of New Orleans.

2011-05-28T06:53:00.000-04:00

More of El Morro in San Juan. It really is an amazing place to visit and walk through!

2011-05-27T06:48:00.000-04:00

Fuerte San Felip del Morro. El Morro sits on a rocky promontory in San Juan and was built by the Spaniards. It rises 140 feet above the sea and has 6 levels to explore.

2011-05-26T06:37:00.000-04:00

San Juan Puerto Rico is on of my favorite places! I especially love Old San Juan, with it's cobblestone streets and colorful homes. The music played in the squares and the little coffee shops full of amazing coffee. The ocean cliffs and the church bells. The old stone walls and iron work. What a fantastic city!

2011-05-25T06:21:00.000-04:00

This is the last of the snorkeling photos. We were able to see some amazing fish this trip!

Cuttlefish-- St. Maarten

Blue Tangs-- St. Croix

Spotlight Parrot Fish-- Female-- St. Croix

Spotlight Parrotfish-- Male -- St. Croix

Tangs-- St. Croix

Coral-- St. Croix

2011-05-23T08:31:00.000-04:00

My son got to help captain the catamaran in St. Maarten.

Our cruise ship docked in St. Maarten. The water is gorgeous there!

The beach!

2011-05-20T09:22:00.000-04:00

Ahhhh Antigua! One of the most beautiful islands out there! Lush and tropical, it has hundreds of empty beautiful beaches just waiting for someone to come and enjoy! We started our day doing the zip lines-- which were great fun but they do not allow you to take your camera. We then headed down to Carlisle Bay where we caught our catamaran. It was Regatta week in Antigua and we got to watch some of the sailboat races as we headed out to snorkel at Cades Reef. The wind was up that day (great for sailboats but it made the water extreemly rough). We then sailed around the island to a private beach where we ate lunch and hung out on an amazing beach before sailing back to our ship.

The water is truely turquoise! Beautiful!

Blue Chromis

anenome

Trunk fish-- they look like they would be ackward swimmers, but in fact are quite graceful.

2011-05-19T06:40:00.000-04:00

St. Kitts..... Gorgeous snorkeling! Love, love, love St. Kitts. We had a fabulous time!

My guys -- we have finished snorkeling and are sailing over to Nevis to have some fun on the beach!

Coral-- the coral was healthy and vibrant here!

They call these sea lilies! (the brown and white sea anenome looking thing).

I could have spend several hours exploring this reef system-- just gorgeous!

You can see the little yellow cleaner wrass in this photo. The bigger fish would come over and these little guys would go to work cleaning off parasites and dead scales.

The white things are Christmas Tree worms. When you move your hand over them they pop back into the coral. Wait a few minutes and they pop right back out to glean food from the water.

This guy is a trumpet fish. They hang out by the bottom waiting for fish to swim by overhead and then they eat them. This guys was about 3 1/2 feet long. Very cool fish.

2011-05-18T06:42:00.000-04:00

We love to snorkel! All 3 of us! We love it so much that we often plan whole trips around snorkeling sites :) Here are a few of the fish we saw while snorkeling in Barbados.

Peacock Flounder-- He was trying hard to hide!

Striped Grunts.

Puffer Fish

Squirrel Fish-- Love his Big eyes!

Blue Tangs

2011-05-12T08:05:00.000-04:00

Sunrise over Nevis. What a beautiful thing to watch!

Swimming with Turtles

2011-05-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

Green Sea Turtles in Barbados.

2011-05-10T07:41:00.000-04:00

Track is over and we are back from 2 weeks of traveling. Life has slowed down now and I can get back to blogging. These are photos from the La Concha Resort in San Juan Puerto Rico. Beautiful resort! Great location!

2011-03-30T06:51:00.000-04:00

It's been a crazy couple of weeks filled with travel, track, and life in general. My son is running track for the first time this year and he has managed to make it to the "A" team. He' has track every night after school as well as track meets. Here are some photos of his first meet. I promised grandparents I'd put htem up. He's ths skinny one with brown hair ;)

It was sooo cold. I think it was 38 degrees at 4:30 when the meet started and it was 30 degrees when it ended at 10. We about froze to death. But we are proud of him. He did very well!

2011-03-07T13:41:00.000-05:00

We drove over to Niagara on the Lake. Well worth the drive! Beautiful drive.

2011-03-04T09:32:00.000-05:00

Ok, so snow and cold are not my thing. I much prefer warm and sunny. However, I do have to say that Niagara Falls are beautiful in the winter!

2011-03-03T06:22:00.000-05:00

Talk about from one extreeme to another. I was in Niagara, Canada last weekend celebrating a friends birthday. Needless to say, it's still winter there. But a very beautiful one!

2011-03-02T07:06:00.000-05:00

After a long grey winter, I long for the sun! Here a few more sunrise photos from Cabo.

2011-02-24T06:52:00.000-05:00

"Mine" I can hear that line from Finding Nemo every time I look at these. He caught this little fish and landed close to me to eat it. He let me take photos but kept giving me looks that said "back off lady, this is mine!"

2011-02-23T06:45:00.000-05:00

It's cold with a rain/snow mix today. I'm tired of no sun. I'm tired of the grayness of winter. Let's face it. Today, I'm a little crabby. I just with I could go and join this guy who was sunning himself on the rocks in Cabo.

2011-02-22T06:37:00.000-05:00

The Fiesta Americana Resort in Cabo is beautiful! Just stunning views!

I would defiantely recomend it to others.

2011-02-18T06:54:00.000-05:00

Leatherback Sea Turtle. These guys get big, but this is just a youngster.

2011-02-16T06:54:00.000-05:00

The sunset turned the arch and rock formations this beautiful shade of redish orange! Just gorgeous!

2011-02-15T07:47:00.000-05:00

Waves. I love the sound of them crashing agains the rocks. I became obsessed with trying to capture how beautifully the sunrise shone through them. Here are a few of my attempts to show how beautiful the sunlight lit them up-- still not as good as the real thing.

2011-02-14T06:46:00.000-05:00

This guy was trying to get the attention of a female. He was slapping the water with his fins and his tail. Nothing like the sound of a 40 ton animal slapping the water. Amazing!

2011-02-11T17:57:00.000-05:00

A few more Humpbakc photos. I decided these should be called "The Dive."

2011-02-10T07:05:00.000-05:00

We went out to see some whales. I have never seen grey whales before and it's their calving season so I was very excited to see them. We also saw Humpback whales and dolphins while we were out there.

2011-02-09T08:56:00.000-05:00

Cabo's famous sea arch and rock formations really are amazing to see. And just around the corner are what they were calling movie star row where people like Brad Pitt, John Travolta and Julia Roberts all have homes.

2011-02-08T10:37:00.000-05:00

I'm finally back. The holidays were very busy and then we were out of town. My parents came to visit and while here, my mom developed a blood clot in her leg that required hospitilization. Finally everything is back to normal.

We recently went to Cabo and had a great time basking in the sunshine. The sunrises were spectacular. Hope you enjoy!

2010-12-29T15:53:00.000-05:00

The snow and ice are melting. Might as well post the last of the photos.

2010-12-28T07:27:00.000-05:00

Walking in a winter wonderland! We had a very white Christmas.

2010-12-23T16:19:00.000-05:00

Our cat loves watching the deer and the birds when sitting by the window.

2010-12-22T16:31:00.000-05:00

Holy Icicles Batman! Do we ever get icicles around here! We get the big kind, like if they fell on you it would really hurt kind.

2010-12-21T21:32:00.000-05:00

Baby it's cold outside!

2010-12-20T08:21:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy, yet fun, Christmas season so far. I started with making our Christmas cards:

2010-12-06T19:52:00.000-05:00

Berries, berries everywhere! This was a banner year for them.

2010-12-02T21:30:00.000-05:00

A little more Christmas around the house.

2010-12-01T21:18:00.000-05:00

A few more raindrops-- that later turned into snow.

2010-11-30T09:03:00.000-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2010-11-18T17:12:00.000-05:00

My lavendar finally decided to bloom. In November. it will be too cold for it soon and it will die. Sigh.... I waited all summer for it to bloom.

Oh Nuts!

2010-11-17T18:53:00.000-05:00

We have an overflow of nuts! A bonanza! There are so many nuts that the squirrels, chipmunks, birds & deer cannot keep up. Our yard is literally covered in nuts.

2010-11-16T19:27:00.000-05:00

Misty morning in the neighborhood = good photo op.

2010-11-11T19:15:00.000-05:00

Saw this pretty little creek when I was out driving the other day. I couldn't resist pulling over and taking a few photos. If you saw how narrow the road was, and how I wasn't entirely able to get my jeep off the road you would wonder if I was crazy. Worth it.

2010-11-09T06:35:00.000-05:00

This is such a pretty horse farm. Just loving how the sun was lighitng it up!

2010-11-05T17:00:00.000-04:00

A beautiful fall day at the river.

2010-11-04T19:22:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that my son is almost 13! Where did my little boy go?

2010-11-03T17:36:00.000-04:00

Don't know why, but these sticker things caught my eye the other day. I just like the way the look kind of alien.

2010-11-02T19:08:00.000-04:00

Views from my walk around the neighborhood.

2010-11-01T17:10:00.000-04:00

Falls last stand

2010-10-28T18:06:00.000-04:00

Fall in the neighborhood. Went for a walk around the neighborhood. We've had fantastic weather!

2010-10-28T06:12:00.000-04:00

These are the last photos from the car show. What a fun day by the river!

2010-10-25T16:27:00.000-04:00

More cars.... I love the way the grills & headlights form "faces." My husband thinks I've just watched the movie Cars one too many times.

2010-10-22T06:29:00.000-04:00

More from the car show. I think Momma needs a new car ;) How about this one?

The hood ornaments and grills on some of these cars are amazing. The don't build them like this anymore.

Ok. Maybe I've just watched too many kids movies, but doesn't this car look like she's smiling at you?

2010-10-21T06:21:00.000-04:00

Had a great time at a local car show. I'm a motorhead at heart so I enjoyed going and seeing all these incredible cars!

2010-10-19T06:45:00.000-04:00

This butter fly looked like he had lived a hard life. You could hear his wings flap because they were so worn. He was still flying around though.

2010-10-15T06:28:00.000-04:00

This year these bright orange mushrooms are everywhere. We also found a lot of these catapillars. I love how their hair sticks out all over the place. Kind of looks like my sons in the morning ;)

2010-10-14T06:30:00.000-04:00

Hiking in the Kanawha Forest. We've had some gorgeous weather lately.

2010-10-13T06:31:00.000-04:00

These are from the National American Art & Portraiture Museum. Amazing place!

2010-10-08T06:28:00.000-04:00

The National Zoo. Unfortunatly it was a very raining day so I didn't take very many photo's.

Are these not the fatest Prairie Dogs you've ever seen?

2010-10-06T14:54:00.000-04:00

Here are a few from the Butterfly garden in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

2010-09-23T20:34:00.000-04:00

The Museum of American History. What an amazing collection. Everything from Julia Childs kitchen to the Star Spangled Banner Flag to an original battle ship from the revolution to a statue of George Washington in a toga.

2010-09-22T19:18:00.000-04:00

The Wall. The Vietnam Memorial wall. Is amazingly simple and moving!

2010-09-21T17:20:00.000-04:00

Lincoln Memorial. This thing is huge!!! It really is an amazing memorial. Just stunning!

2010-09-20T14:44:00.000-04:00

My 2 guys at the Washington Monument.

World War II Memorial

2010-09-17T12:01:00.000-04:00

The Air and Space Museum.

I've owned a few cars in my lifetime that should have been so named

2010-09-15T17:16:00.000-04:00

These are from the Hirshhorn Museum & sculpture garden. We started making up our own titles for the sculptures.

We called this one rubber stamp

We decided the title for this one should be when weeble wobbles fight

My son liked this painting

2010-09-13T19:18:00.000-04:00

A few photos from the Freer Gallery. The have asain, middle eastern and Inian artwork.

2010-09-09T07:37:00.000-04:00

D.C. at Night is beautiful!

2010-09-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

We were still wandering around the National Mall at sunset so we decided to wander over to some of the monuments and watch the sunset and the lights come on.

Washington Monument at Sunset

The sunset cast a gorgeous glow on the U.S. Capital building

The Lincoln Memorial is gorgeous at night. There were quite a few people milling around taking photos. Love the reflectio in the reflecting pool.

2010-09-02T18:07:00.000-04:00

My two guys on the steps of the National Archives building. Unfortunately Jeff was on his cell phone.